Having spent years trying to solve mobile device management, the value in VDI even for HTML5 apps is that the issues about browser and add-ins can be manged by a central group and not have to deal with what software is running on the end user device. I agree with you that it is all about the right tool for the right job.

Virtual Apps makes seems to be a better fit than Virtual Desktops for a tablet. I don't know if Microsoft tablets will get enough traction to let them be viable for task workers. For knowledge workers Virtual Apps may be easier to port to a tablet form factor. I don't know if humans will be willing to talk to their tablets to get past the slow data input needed by content creators or editors. If the user process can be converted from text interactions to motion interactions then those apps can be make VDI friendly.

VDI is not dead, it just is not for everyone.For industries where a majority of the computer workers are task workers that use a client device while sitting or standing at a fixed location with large volumes of text input will need a quality keyboard and pointing device (mouse) ergonomically next to the keyboard. For these types of task workers VDI may still be viable. If your users need multiple monitors that are 24" diagonals to do their job then tablets will not cut it nor will cheep laptops. I believe if you divorce the source of the compute from the device the end user interacts with you can reduce your labor to manage the environment when you have sufficient scale. Thus VDI may be best suited for companies that are large enough where the scale of the problem is solved by a centrally managed VDI ecosystem justifies the effort. Key attributes are companies where desktop images and local parts depots are problematic. Companies so large that end user device refresh is a continuous process that ever ends. A company where contractors or employees are allowed to bring there own PC but the company has high governmental compliance issues is where VDI provides significant value. So VDI is not dead it just past the hill of hype and should be used where it fits.

HTML5 apps, both browser based and native, should make this VDI discussion a moot point. If every device is essentially a thin client (very little installed software to maintain), then the argument becomes what is cheapest/best hardware for the job (Touch, smartphone, laptop, desktop with three 24" monitors, etc). VDI is being crippled by vendors like Microsoft anyway. Did you know Microsoft now forces an extra license (and recurring cost) to run a copy of Win XP you already own in a virtual environment? I see so many vendors trying to protect their revenue from virtualization, defeating much of it's cost efficiency.Unless you have tremendous scale, like Allstate the author works for, you can't generate any cost savings with VDI. And as he points out at Allstate, even this is slipping away.

Apple's Parallels is supposed to offer a more "touch friendly" interface for classic desktops (OSX and Windows). I haven't used it but I read a review and wondered why Apple is pushing this envelope when Microsoft so badly needs something like this to make Win8's desktop more "touchable".

Really? I see a lot of folks connected to free Wifi sipping coffee while reading their e-mail in Outlook on their iPad. Unless I missed the big reveal of Office for iPad, they must be using some kind of VDI/RDP/Citrix thing.

This is one tech we should just put a stake in, along with the kludgy legacy software that is used as justification, and move along. I realize companies and vendors have sunk investments, but at some point you have to cut your losses and walk away.

As InformationWeek Government readers were busy firming up their fiscal year 2015 budgets, we asked them to rate more than 30 IT initiatives in terms of importance and current leadership focus. No surprise, among more than 30 options, security is No. 1. After that, things get less predictable.